When has Ford actually replaced a platform before it was "supposed" to be replaced-the modus operandi is drive it into the ground before it is replaced.    Ford has been reactive for the past 25 years, not proactive. 

But what would it offer there over the 5.0?   I think the main reason was to have a lower cost alternative to the 7.3L for fleets and low-dollar customers in the Super Duty.  They probably found out it wasn't really adding to the bottom line.

Maybe that platform isn't returning good margins and they have a new platform that will be thousands of dollars cheaper to build and more flexible.  And maybe it can be applied to multiple sized trucks.

FTFY

I never understood the need either.  I thought it was to fit it in mustang and/or f150.

That doesn't look bad, it would look better with the Trailblazer front end though 😛  

For reference here is the Chevy Montana:    Given the Santa Cruz sucked, I wouldn’t expect say more trucky styling like the Maverick is better.

I'm just trying to figure out the most likely course of action that makes the most sense.   There is a van going to OHAP, which I'd assume is based on the Maverick, but people have shot that down because its C2 based.      Not sure how much assembly line tooling can be reused-I know of a horror story I heard-when Edison was shut down about 20 years ago, some equipment was moved to Twin Cities to be used there for assembly of the Ranger. Apparently it was just left in outdoor storage area/parking lot and was water damaged and made unusable.     

If they build an even smaller Maverick (~185 in long, unibody, a small bed like the Chevy Montana in Brazil, probably C2 since they don’t have another platform that could do this, price would be their new cheapest model at like maybe $25k in today’s USD/$27k in 2028 USD @ 4% inflation) then TTP makes a lot more sense. My previous theory that they wanted to maximize Bronco production doesn’t make as much sense given MAP is afaik well below capacity. This would also solve their C2 capacity issue and let them save money by reusing tooling from LAP. I wouldn’t expect this to result in bringing back the Escape, they could better use the space on the BS and/or Maverick.    Is there a market for this? Who the fuck knows. 

Ford should just drop the 6.8L and eliminate the extra engine from the lineup.  The difference between it and the 7.3L is negligible, and it's one less thing to build, upgrade, etc.   I'm assuming that's their plan after dropping it from the Super Duty.